It is known that silent discharge occurs when applying a high-voltage alternating current or a periodic pulse voltage to a dielectric disposed between two electrodes, and active species, radicals, and ions are produced in the resulting plasma field to promote a reaction and decomposition of a gas. This phenomenon may be utilized for removing toxic components contained in engine exhaust gas or various incinerator exhaust gases.
For example, a plasma reactor or the like which processes NOx carbon particulate, HC, CO, and the like contained in engine exhaust gas or various incinerator exhaust gases in the plasma field by causing the engine exhaust gas or various incinerator exhaust gases to pass through the plasma field has been disclosed (e.g. JP-A-2001-164925).
However, since the distance between the electrodes must be reduced in order to form a structure which uniformly and stably generates plasma at low power consumption and allows a gas such as exhaust gas to efficiently pass through the plasma field, the number of parts is increased and assembly becomes complicated. Moreover, a variation of the dimensions of each part which makes up the electrode used to generate plasma adversely affects the performance of the plasma reactor. Furthermore, engine trouble or an increase in fuel consumption occurs due to an increase in the passage resistance of the gas which passes through the plasma reactor.